18
UP & AGAIN
A well-kept jungle.
Artists' gardens are Gesamtkunstwerke—total works of art—of cultivated nature; they serve as a source of artistic inspiration while simultaneously revealing a great deal about the artist, their creativity, and their character. This is certainly the case with Ulrich Pracht. Even in the entrance area of his residence in Düsseldorf-Oberkassel, visitors discover the personal signature of this "decorator." Passing through a gate of black wrought iron topped with a golden finial, one proceeds past rose bushes and oleanders—plants the master of the house tends to with his own hands and adorns differently from one season to the next. In the living area, floor-to-ceiling windows open onto a view of the garden behind the house—a space Ulrich Pracht affectionately refers to as his "cultivated jungle." Here stand Chinese windmill palms with their fans of dark green foliage, a majestic magnolia that bursts into a riot of bloom each spring, and towering bamboo that sways gently in the breeze, reaching high toward the sky. In his latest major fashion production, Die vier Jahreszeiten (The Four Seasons), Ulrich Pracht offers—for the very first time—a comprehensive glimpse into this fairytale-like sanctuary. It now serves as the backdrop for a series of beguiling images in which women, clad in exquisite gowns, appear as mystical beings—at times embodying the pure, the noble, and the sublime; at others, the dark and the sinful.
“One of the most fascinating aspects of my work was the constant quest to discover the most beautiful locations worldwide: London, Paris, New York, Miami, or Brazil; South America, Mexico, the Seychelles, Mauritius, or the Caribbean and St. Barthélemy; Alaska or California, New Mexico or Marbella, the Côte d’Azur, Morocco or Tunisia—and, last but not least: Bella Italia and Sardinia. Yet my own garden—my "home, sweet home" in Düsseldorf—also offers a fantastic backdrop. The series Four Seasons was photographed exclusively in my garden, along the Rhine, and at the Kosaido Golf Club.
18.1
Four SEASONS
Joie de vivre in four acts.
Within the enchanted nature of his wonderfully designed garden in Düsseldorf, a fascinating spectacle unfolds before Ulrich Pracht’s eyes every year—the spectacle brought about by the ever-recurring cycle of the four seasons: coming into being and passing away, growth and ripening, transience and renewal. This eternal cycle of nature has inspired artists from all over the world on countless occasions to create compositions, paintings, and texts—from Goethe, in his "Easter Walk" in Faust, to Vivaldi, in his world-renowned violin concertos, and Cézanne, in his paintings of the four seasons. Iconographically, the seasons also serve as a metaphor for life itself, from birth to death. Yet, in his own cycle, Ulrich Pracht does not adhere to this allegory. On the contrary: in 2021, amidst his own "fairytale forest"—situated within the very environment of his daily life—he celebrates a new pinnacle of his creative output. He presents it as a surreal theatrical production in four life-affirming acts, in which he compellingly demonstrates that the pulsating energy and creative vitality that have accompanied him throughout his entire professional life remain undiminished. Time and again, the artist has envisioned these scenes—reflections of his own ideas and intuitions—through the lens of his camera, first seeing them with his mind's eye. Ulrich Pracht stages his leading ladies as sensual blossoms set against a backdrop of snow-dusted palm fronds, or as delicate birds of paradise and butterflies. At times, these beautiful women—to whom he pays his personal photographic homage—emerge like fairies from the shadowy depths of an enchanted jungle situated in the very heart of Düsseldorf, clad in feminine gowns by the haute couture label Rita Lagune; at other times, within the bright expanse of his fairytale garden, they frolic coquettishly with the spring breeze. While the connoisseur might choose to raise a glass of sparkling Champagne in honor of one particular motif, he might opt for a light terrace wine to accompany the next—only to discover, finally, over a glass of deep-red Bordeaux, the sensual depth of yet another image. This life is a celebration! Ulrich Pracht knows how to stage it to perfection like few others—to this very day.
SPRING
SUMMER
AUTUMN
WINTER
